https://blog.reedsy.com/how-to-outline-a-book/
Mind Map
A visual approach to outlining that shows the spatial relationships between your plot points, characters, themes, conflicts, chapters — you name it.
Synopsis
A holistic story outline that gives a brief overview of the story’s plot, characters, conflicts, and themes in a two- to three-page paper.
The Beat Sheet
Documents the beats of the story in shorthand. Each individual ‘beat’ gets a bullet (or a number). Examples of beat sheets are here and here.
The Skeleton
Constructs the spine of the novel, or the key plot points. Imagine a roadmap with only big-name destinations marked in red — the road to get there is up to you.
Characters First
A character-led novel outline. Prioritizes character development, character arcs, and character beats over planning of the plot.
Scenes and Sequences
Details all the scenes and sequences — in other words, the large set pieces of the novel.
When you have an idea of the novel outline that you want to produce, it’s time to arm yourself with the right tools to execute it.
theme:
Faced with extraordinary, life-threatening circumstances, a variety of people around the world, must do whatever it takes to survive or else they or their loved ones might die.
Faced with an extraordinary environmental crisis that threatens to destroy civilization, world governments and leaders must set aside their differences and band together in order to save humanity.
On the brink of world war, the entire world / humanity is faced with an extraordinary environmental crisis that threatens to destroy civilization. Will world leaders set aside their differences and band together to save humanity, or will they fight for available resources in order to save their own countries?
[Character] must [do something] to [story goal] or else [reason why the audience should care]?
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Henry & Belinda – farmer family with children – West Texas
Neil – a jaded guy in the Navy, works on submarine or Naval carrier
Paul and Carol – couple on cruise ship
Michael – writer and kitchen worker who lives in Brooklyn, New York
Adam – young airline pilot
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
major plot points of the rise
1. sinkholes appear throughout rural areas in the U.S. and the world
2. as quickly as the the sinkholes arrive, they close up, after the appearance of orbs.
3. water starts rising all over the earth.
4. at first, the water rises slowly, as scientists, geologists, and researchers race to identify the source or cause of this phenomena
5. the governments of the world try to work together but realize they are unable to because of differences in opinion. At this point, it is every government on their own, and each government and country watches to see what the others will do, what works, and what they can emulate in terms of survival options.
6. Secretly, however, the U.S. government has been planning or this kind of events and has already manufactured ARCs (Assisted Relocation Communities) that will allow a certain percent of the population, those that participate and win a lottery, a chance to live on them
7. The news of the ARC’s causes mass hysteria as people rush toward the ARC’s location. Some fake locations are sent out to distract many. Those that do not win the ARC lottery are forced to survive on their own or join tribes in order to protect themselves, their friends, and their loved ones.
8. The first novel ends on a cliffhanger moment, wherein or more of the main characters is declined entry to the ARC or is accepted entry but refuses to go because his family is prohibited from entry, so he trades his ARC ticket for a boat, a tugboat or steel boat that’s piloted by an elderly captain who’s tired of running it, who gladly accepts the ticket into the ARC where he can live without the physical strain and obligations of running his own frigate
9. This, the guy trading his ARC ticket for a ship, then his family boarding the ship, even though he has little to no experience, is where the first novel ends
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minor plot points
Henry & Belinda – farmer family with children – West Texas
Neil – a jaded guy in the Navy, works on submarine or Naval carrier
Paul and Carol – couple on cruise ship
Michael – writer and kitchen worker who lives in Brooklyn, New York
Adam – young airline pilot
1. Adam, the young airline pilot, is eyed by Louis, a 50-something divorcee stewardess. In Louis’s view, Adam is a younger version of her husband.
2. Neil – the jaded submarine Navy guy, finds out the girl he had a fling with at his last port of call is pregnant with his child. Now, Neil has someone to care for, and has to decide whether to leave the safety of the submarine to be with his wife and child, or stay on the ship, in relative safety, not knowing what will happen to his wife and child.
3. Paul and Carol’s relationship begins to disintegrate on the cruise, when she gets drunk and sleeps with a lothario. She sleeps beside him but they both fall asleep.
4. Michael, a writer and kitchen worker in Brooklyn, New York
5. Henry and Belinda are on the frigate ship with their three children. Belinda discovers she is pregnant.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
the rise – aftermath
1. the rise aftermath picks up where the first novel left off, where the guy trades his ARC ticket for a steel boat ship, so he and his family can be safe
2. it turns out that one of the ships on the rise, crowded with passengers who won the lottery to get there, is inhabited by stowaways who, with the help of disgruntled crew members, stage a coup, a mutiny, but before they can, they discover the entire ship is the plaything for those who are running the zoo in the Zoo Hypothesis scenario, and the ship witnesses strange phenomena
3. the guy in the steel boat is heading toward Alaska and experiences the beauty of the Northern Lights – music – m83.
4. Neil finds out the girl he had a fling with at the last port of call, a girl he likes, is pregnant with his child.